Learn to read and pronounce Korean Hangul in 2 days

That’s the main point I am trying to make in this post. While the Korean characters seem complex at first, they are easy to read within one week. Skip the touristic English metro maps, and start learning the way the correct way!

Truth is that this information applies for a specific group, but I stumbled upon a few useful things to master the Language quickly.

Korean Language

There are about 80 million Korean speakers, with large groups in Korea, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan. There are more people that can speak Korean then there are people that speak French or Italian.

Korean language was previously written using Hanja, which ‘borrowed’ Chinese characters, but pronounced them in a Korean way. In the 15th century, the national writing system called Hangul (meaning Korean) was developed.

Master the alphabet in less then a day

I’m not going to write down how to learn the alphbet. There are many guides out there that done the same. I would suggest to do only one exercise: try to master this Flash game made by Aeriagloris. The game shows a letter, and suggests 3 to 5 answers to that question. It is good because the game allows showing either Korean or English writing of the symbol. Much better then flash cards! Master the 24 Hangul letters in less then a day. [edit: here is an alternative]

Writing Korean

Hangul alphabet is applied into syllabic blocks. Each blocks contains at least two of the Korean letters. Hangul may be written either vertically or horizontally. The traditional direction is the Chinese style of writing top to bottom, right to left.

Correct Pronunciation

My friend Byeoung Cho (designer) created a colorful Korean hangul practice sheets, which proved useful when I mastered my intonations. I decided to share his work for others that want to learn as well! Note: The grey characters indicate low usage. You’re invited to leave a “thank you” in the comments when you use them!

Terrific! Especially the distinction between common and less common syllables. Taking a Hangul Level 1 class currently and need the help. Assignment for next week is practice writing syllables with the combination vowels. Eek!

this was so useful in practically a pro at it know it took me altogether a little under 3 hours to memorise the alphabet and it sticks. 고맙습니다 병초 씨! I was wondering if maybe your friend could do a Japanese version? the colour scheme is 짱 and it would be so useful as all the other charts on the Internet are so ugly and plain. thanks!!

Thank you for the hangul color charts! Reading the charts and speaking each syllabic block on my phone and kindle a few times a day in spare moments is improving my reading and speaking speed dramatically. Just as I can look at a letter or word in English and instantly know the word or sound from lots of practice, I am becoming more proficient at the same with the hangul syllabic blocks. Thank you for sharing!

Nice, but. – The table arrangement is completely topsy-turvy. The consonants should be put in the vertical column and the vowels on top in the horizontal line. In the present arrangement logical reading is neither possible from left to right nor from top to bottom. – Fully dizzying.

Thank you so much for sharing the sheets and i have a little question in the 3 sheet by kk stands “kkok” but shouldn’t it be “kkog” and also by “kkot” , “kki” , “ttuk” and “ssuk” the color is red so shouldn’t it be a “g” in that case . That shouldn’t be a criticism but it confused me a bit and sorry for my bad english